E Tu Sorridi
by Princess Laubie
Summary: After the Battle the New York Institute Shadowhunters attempt to make sense of their loss and carry on with life. Moving on can be difficult. At least Alec and Magnus have each other, whatever life throws at them! Set after COHF, with my own take on how the Battle against Sebastian went. Alec's and Magnus' POVs; mostly Malec fluff but features other pairings. Lemons Warning!
1. Chapter 1

_New York Institute Christmas Party, December 22nd 2008_

The room was filled with golden light and the smell of Christmas: spice, pine and warmth. The Institute looked absolutely beautiful; Magnus had outdone himself. Alec gazed out of the window into the darkness of the city, speckled with electric lights and thrumming with life. And knowing that New York was thriving, alive and celebrating the festive season was, in an odd way, a comfort. Despite all the loss and the pain, they had succeeded. Good had won out over evil and the world was relatively safe now; at least, for the time being and only if you remembered that demons were relentless and still filtered over to this world to wreak havoc.

He let out a long sigh. His own, personal little world would never be the same again, but it was all part of the fate of a Shadowhunter. From a young age it had been drilled into him that those you loved would die, but it still didn't make it easier. Alec had mourned the loss of his little brother Max, who had really been the first casualty of the war against Sebastian. This had really been the greatest injustice if all, because Max had been an innocent, he hadn't fought, he hadn't been armed. It still stung his heart to think of it. And now he dressed in white once more. Despite it being Christmas, everyone here at the Institute Party had chosen to remain in mourning colours in order to commemorate the great loss of life.

_Thank the Angel for what I have._

Without Magnus he knew he would have died on the battlefield. But he had had something to fight for and somehow, miraculously, he had survived. They had both survived and they were together. And, of course, Magnus was mortal now. They would be able to spend a lifetime together; they would be able to grow old together and enjoy their life. And he knew that they would meet in the next life too, if the Universe was kind.

His partner's immortality had been the price he had to pay. Magnus fell in the battle and although Alec had no idea what length of time had passed with him holding the Warlock's lifeless pale body in his arms as he shook with grief, Magnus' father had appeared at some point, as the battle still raged around them, and had resuscitated his son: on condition that Magnus yield up his immortality.

Alec knew he shouldn't think any sort of warm or fuzzy feelings about Magnus' father, but he couldn't help it. True, it had cost Magnus his immortality, but in Alec's opinion it had been a favour rather than a payment. Of course, Magnus' father had made some pretty awful threats about the fact that now Magnus was mortal he would be able to 'claim him'. But that was the problem with demons; "all talk , no trousers" as Magnus would say.

The only thing about surviving, though, was that awful feeling of being the one left behind. And right at this moment, in the large room that was filled with Shadowhunters and Downworlders and friends and family, Alec felt that hollow pang of grief rip through him. Had it all been worth it? Absolutely. But that emptiness and grief would always mark him and haunt him for the rest of his life. He knew he had to get used to it, but it was difficult.

Alec's eyes stung with tears in the low light as he remembered his mother's sacrifice. She had shielded him as Sebastian had attacked and then had died in his arms, telling him that she was proud of him and that she loved him and to look after his sister. He would never forget that moment, it was burned into him and the scar would always ache. As for looking after his sister, Isabelle was quite capable of looking after herself. In fact, Isabelle had saved them all. It had been some weird magical power in her whip that had created a shield around them as the towers had shattered and rained down upon the battlefield in large and fatal translucent shards. Izzy's comment at the time had been, "that's the best Birthday present you ever got!" And had to explain to him in the days that followed that when he and Magnus had first got together he had enchanted Isabelle's whip somehow as Alec's eighteenth birthday present – because Magnus knew that his sister's protection meant more to him than anything. Alec had always assumed his eighteenth birthday present form Magnus had been an extra-long makeout session on the Warlock's couch and a trip to Coney Island on their second ever 'real' date.

The recent memory of the battle prickled in his mind, but was quickly washed away when he saw his lover staring at him from across the room as he helped himself to some bright pink punch. This was his happy ending; this is what he had fought for.

Alec began to make his way towards the Warlock, fully intending to ask for a dance, when he heard his name being yelled from the doorway.

"Alec!"

He turned towards the source to find his sister stood there, resplendent in a long white lace gown that clung tightly to her curved figure. Although completely covered by the lace, the sheerness of the fabric left little to the imagination, though she was wearing a short white slip underneath. She looked dazzling; like some enchanted princess with her ink black tumbling locks and her scandalously red lips. Alec smiled warmly and opened his arms to her. With a deep intake of breath she ran at him laughing and bowled into him as he swept her up and hugged her tightly, spinning her around joyously in the air.

"Oh I missed you so much!" he gushed. Isabelle let out a beautiful peel of laughter and stroked the side of his cheek as he placed her carefully back down on the floor.

"Missed you too loser," she said in a soft, affectionate whisper.

She had been gone for the last couple of weeks visiting the Paris Institute, needing to get away for a while. Isabelle had probably fared the worst out of all of them; she had lost not only their parents but also Simon. She had also been the one who had killed their father. Although Sebastian had turned him and she was only acting in self-defence, she had been so broken that he hadn't known if she would ever recover. However, seeing her here this evening looking so radiant and so normal made him feel happy beyond belief.

"Izzy!" Jace yelled as he grasped her in a bear hug.

"Stop it! You'll mess up my hair!" she screamed, though she was smiling.

The family was reunited now. They were the last of the Lightwoods, but at least they were together. Jace grabbed Alec by the shoulder and hugged them both, the three of them locked together and an overwhelming feeling of relief and love passing through them.

Clary joined them, a sad smile clouding her expression as Isabelle wrapped her in her arms. Alec knew Clary blamed herself for a lot of what had happened by not being able to stop Sebastian sooner. Finally, Magnus came over to them, cups floating magically above his head – that was his favourite party trick – a drink for each of them.

"Ho ho ho!" Magnus exclaimed jubilantly, passing them each a glass in turn.

"Magnus," Isabelle said warmly and hugged the Warlock before he was able to pass her drink to her. Though appearing to be a little stunned at first, he returned the hug with affection.

"Thank you," she whispered to Magnus quietly, making Alec wonder what she was thanking his boyfriend for. He looked at them both quizzically though neither acknowledged him before Magnus broke the hug and gave her a knowing nod.

"Let's have a toast!" his lover exclaimed with glee, passing out the remaining glasses and holding the last one up above his glittered head. "To friends!" he finished, pumping the glass of pink liquid in the air triumphantly.

"To family," Jace countered, holding his drink aloft too. Magnus smiled at him in agreement and they all raised their glasses and repeated the sentiment. Magnus then insisted on 'clinking' everybody's glass with his own. Alec suspected his boyfriend might be drunk.

A comfortable silence fell upon the group as they stood there together, bathed in the golden light of hundreds of candles, remembering those they had lost and giving thanks for those they still had. Suddenly, a voice broke their reverie.

"Alec," Jia Penhallow greeted him. Jia had been staying at the New York Institute quite a bit over the past few weeks, along with her daughter Aline and Aline's partner Helen. This was partly because Alicante needed to be extensively re-built and also because the New York Institute technically now had no one running it. The Consul embraced him and Alec had to bend over to hug her back on account of their height difference.

"Merry Christmas," she told him affectionately, planting a very light kiss on his cheek.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Jia," he told her back. Jia had lost her husband in the battle and Alec suspected that she was deliberately keeping herself busy in order to not have to think about it; she had been splitting her time between her Consul duties and overseeing the re-construction of Alicante, the running of the Beijing Institute and also the running of the New York Institute. He had spoken with her only the night before about it and she had promised him to slow the pace a little.

"Can I have a word a moment please Alec?" she asked him. Alec looked around to the rest of the group, who seemed to have no objection with him going off with Jia for a while. Magnus shot him one of his lovely smiles that warmed him up on the inside and Aline and Helen had suddenly appeared and began chatting to Clary, pulling the group's attention away from him.

They retreated to an alcove and Jia patted down her brocaded white shift dress a little nervously.

"Is something the matter?" Alec asked her, his concern obvious. He immediately regretted his words, however, realising that there was a lot going on with all of them at the moment as they came to terms with their losses. There was something the matter with everyone right now.

"No, no, but I do need to talk to you on official Council business Alec." She looked up at him and gave him a tired-looking smile. Alec's heart skipped a beat.

_What have I done wrong now?_

"You know, Alec, you have turned out to be a wonderful young man. You are kind and empathetic and you genuinely care about people. You have a selfless streak that is completely genuine and truly admirable. I've known you since you were a little baby and it makes me so proud to see what you have become."

Alec could only stare at her, a little taken aback by her words.

"And, please believe me, your parents would be very proud of you too." Tears began to cloud her dark brown eyes and she had to look away from him for a moment to steady herself. Alec could feel a stinging in the back of his throat, but he managed to hold his emotions back.

"So I have something very important to ask you."

"What?" Alec asked with trepidation.

"The council and I have decided we would like to offer you the position of Head of the New York Institute."  
There was a stunned, gaping silence as what the Consul had said filtered through and sunk in.

"What?" he asked again, thinking he was beginning to sound incredibly dim.

"Head of the New York Institute: what do you say Alec?" She was smiling blithely at him, clearly awaiting an answer.

"B-but why me? Are you sure? I mean, this is a big responsibility and…"

"Alec, this is the Council's decision. It was debated, at length, as the New York Institute is very important to the Clave. But we all feel that you would do a wonderful job, despite your youth and relative inexperience. And who would be better for the job? You were raised here Alec, it's a part of you."

Alec nodded in agreement, though his dark blue eyes spoke only of insecurity and un-surety, pushing Jia to carry on.

"And I think it would be wonderful for you to take on this place as your parent's legacy," she added warmly, patting him on his arm in a comforting gesture. Alec shifted his weight nervously.

"So you're sure the Council thinks this is a good idea? You want me to be head of the Institute? There are so many other people who would probably be more suitable…"  
"Not so many anymore," she interrupted darkly, her voice dropping with sadness.

"But surely there is someone who would be more appropriate…"  
"I shall not hear you self-deprecating yourself in front of me Alec!" she chimed in, suddenly cheerful. "You are the Council's choice. You can, of course, refuse the position, though the Council, especially myself, would be very disappointed if you did." She was looking at him sternly, her lips pressed into a thin hard line; he supposed she wasn't used to people putting up such a fight over being offered prestigious posts amongst the Clave.

"Can I at least think about it?" Alec asked her sheepishly and noticing her expression soften. She looked at him in the same way his mother used to look at him when he was little and he had said something 'cute'.

"Of course, but I will need your answer by Sunday because I am going back to Alicante for a couple of weeks and will need to inform the Council of your decision. It is a shame you can't accept tonight because I would have loved to announce it at the party."

"I haven't said I was going to accept yet…"  
Jia shrugged at him. "I suppose you need to go and talk about this with Magnus. You will need to move into the Institute permanently and I know how much he has been pining for his own space over the past couple of weeks."  
"Magnus," Alec said aloud, as if he had only just remembered his boyfriend in all this. "Magnus would be allowed to live with me here?" Alec's chest tightened in anticipation.

"Well I can't see why not. Relationships between Shadowhunters and Downworlders are not prohibited and Downworlders have lived at Institutes with their Nephilim partners before. After all that Magnus has done for the Clave over the past few months I cannot see there being any objections. He will not, of course, have any say in the running of the Institute as that will be your responsibility, Alec." She smiled wickedly at him. "Although, I am sure on a personal level he may have a lot of influence. But, you know, in an official capacity he will just be a resident here."

"Magnus really won't like the idea of living here…" Alec grumbled, remembering some of the rants and tantrums his lover had had recently about their current living situation. Alec knew Magnus missed his loft and missed being able to throw parties. Responsibility for tonight's Christmas Party had been given to Magnus only because he had been complaining very loudly about no longer being the 'hostess with the mostess' and how depressing it was to not be able to throw parties.

"Well I should leave you to get on with telling him!" Jia exclaimed enthusiastically.

"I still haven't said I would accept yet," Alec argued.

"True," she conceded. "But I have a feeling this is the kind of opportunity doesn't come along very often and I can be very persuasive." She waved her hand nonchalantly in the air, a big grin plastered on her face that made her look about twenty years younger. Alec could see why his mother would have liked Jia so much.

"You've obviously not encountered Magnus in an argument before," he mumbled in response before they both headed back into the warmly lit room to re-join the other guests.

* * *

"What?!"  
"Shhh!" he berated his sister, pulling her to the side as if hiding her behind a large plant pot would mean nobody would take much notice of her barely contained outburst.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed in a whisper, a broad grin spread across her face. "You've been offered the Institute?! Oh my god Alec that is fantastic!" she gushed at him, trying to whisper but seemingly unable to control her excitement. He nodded his head slowly and she flung herself into his arms.

"Ahhhh!" she squealed and Alec had to shush her again.

"What did Magnus say?! Does Jace know yet?!"

"You're the first person I've told…"  
She furrowed her brow for a moment, clearly unsure whether he should have told her the news before his boyfriend or _parabatai_, but then she lit up and squealed again before practically jumping on him and planting a big kiss on his cheek.

"I haven't accepted it yet, Iz!" he protested, trying to wrench her free of his neck. Her bright red nails were as sharp as talons and were now digging into his skin. When he finally managed to pull her away she grasped at his hands, tears clouding her pretty eyes.

"Oh Izzy, don't. You'll set me off," he told her honestly, trying to gulp down his own tears.

She swept her fingers delicately underneath her eyes to avoid smudging her makeup as she wiped away the moisture there.

"You don't think Jace will be angry?" Alec asked her quietly.

"What?! Why on earth would Jace be angry? Jace will be thrilled!"

"It's just… Jace is like the 'saviour' and everything isn't he. And maybe he will feel like I don't deserve the job because it should be him who is honoured and – "

"Ok, firstly, Jace is not a 'saviour'. Jace may have dealt the final blow but it was Clary who defeated Sebastian. Secondly, you know Jace won't want to be 'honoured' or anything like that! He would hate it! And, well, I think you deserve this and Jace will too. He's your _parabatai_ Alec! He will be so happy for you! I mean, come on, can you honestly see Jace running this place? Now, with you running it and having to worry about procedure and admin and protocol and Jace just allowed to continue living here and not be involved in any of that stuff…" she grinned salaciously at him, baring her delicate white teeth. "He'll love it! Really, neither me nor Jace would be able to run this place. But you – you would be fantastic."

He smiled weakly at her and she enfolded him in a tight hug once again.

"Maybe you could do me a favour?" he asked her and she pulled apart from him and looked searchingly into his eyes. "Could you possibly go and tell Jace about Jia's offer? And tell him that I haven't accepted it yet – please make that clear?"

"Why don't you want to tell him yourself?"

"I need to speak with Magnus. If one of them finds out the other heard about it first there will be hell to pay. But if you go tell Jace and let him know that the reason I couldn't tell him was because I needed to have a serious talk with Magnus about it…"

"I get it. Jace will think that you wanted him to know first but you had to go talk to Magnus about it and deal with any 'drama'. And you can tell Magnus that you have only told me and that I then went and told Jace of my own accord."

"Exactly," he said with a small conspirational smile. She gave his hand another squeeze before bouncing off to go and tell Jace and Clary the gossip and Alec began to scan the room for his boyfriend It really wasn't very difficult to pick out Magnus in a crowd: he was currently entertaining a group of children (most of whom looked like they were Blackthorns and Alec briefly wondered whether that meant they would all have to make a trip to Los Angeles for the LA Institute Boxing Day Party) by changing all the colours of the Christmas Tree decorations.

_He's so good with kids_.

Alec faltered for a second, shocked by that little thought.

_Where the hell did that come from?_

He shook his head to try and regain his composure before striding over to the Warlock. As he approached, he managed to catch Magnus' eye and his lover became briefly distracted from enchanting straws for the children that would allow them to blow multi-coloured bubbles into their non-alcoholic punch or milkshakes.

"Hey," Magnus greeted him. His boyfriend came over to where he was hovering at the edge of the group of children and planted a light kiss on his lips.

"Ew!" he heard from one of the group, accompanied by a lot of giggling. Children were terrifying.

"Magnus?" a small voice spoke out and they both looked down at a small boy with messy brown hair sat cross-legged on the floor, studying a festive combination of red, green and gold bubbles in what appeared to be chocolate milkshake. Alec couldn't recall which one he was, but he was definitely a Blackthorn.

"Yes?" his boyfriend asked in a sing-song voice.

"Are you and Alec married?"

Such a simple and innocent question for a small child to ask, but it made Alec angry and panicked at the same time and he could feel the blush spreading across his cheeks. He wasn't sure why he reacted like that, but he really didn't think there could have been a more awkward question.

Magnus, thankfully, had chosen to go and crouch next to the young boy rather than look at Alec. He was uncertain how the Warlock would take Alec's reaction to the question.

"No, we're not married," he told the child calmly.

"Why not?" he asked curiously, looking up at Magnus with a confused expression.

"Well, Alec hasn't asked me yet."

Alec almost fainted at that and began to cough loudly with nervousness. Magnus grinned at him sweetly, though Alec could tell his boyfriend was only pretending to be innocent.

"Ask you?" the boy repeated, clearly perplexed by the notion.

"When you want to marry someone you have to ask them nicely, because you wouldn't want them to say no. It's called a 'proposal' when you ask someone to marry you and when you ask you have to get down on one knee and be very soppy and romantic."

The young boy winced at the 'soppy and romantic' part.

"Is it because you are both men?" a young girl who looked remarkably like the little boy piped up, coming over to them as the rest of the group of children began running away in a swarm, shouting and squealing with laughter.

"Eavesdropping is rude," Alec told her flatly. Magnus looked at him shocked, raising one of his finely pruned eyebrows at the outburst. The little girl looked at him blankly for a moment before deciding that it wasn't worth saying sorry or arguing about before turning back around to Magnus. "Well, is that the reason?"

"It's not very traditional for two men to get married, but I can't see any reason why they shouldn't. Can you?"  
She smiled at him and shook her head. "What about two women? Helen and Aline should get married too because they love each other."

"But if you love someone then you don't always need to get married. Some people like the idea of it and others don't. The important thing is that you both promise to be faithful to each other and loyal and kind and trusting." Alec noticed that both children looked rather relieved by that statement.

"Magnus, I need to talk to you," Alec blurted out, no longer able to suffer through the awkwardness.

The Warlock looked at the children dramatically before winking and walking over to Alec. As he pulled his boyfriend away to a corner he could hear the Blackthorn kids speculate.

"I wonder if he's going to ask Magnus to marry him?!" the girl asked excitedly.

"Don't be silly. An Institute isn't romantic and soppy."

Alec dragged Magnus all the way into the hall, wanting to be well sure he was out of earshot of those embarrassing children.

"So are you going to get down on one knee?" Magnus asked him, looking serious. Alec's heart almost leapt out of his mouth and he found himself stammering incoherently trying to find what to say to that. Magnus' expression broke into a languid smile, reminding Alec of when the sun appears after a summer storm. He stopped jabbering and gazed lovingly at his boyfriend, suddenly stupified and silent.

"I was only joking Alexander," Magnus told him softly, though Alec thought he detected a hint of sadness in his voice. However, now was not the time to get muddled up with thoughts about Magnus wearing a wedding dress.

"Magnus – Jia Penhallow just offered me the Institute."

Alec had always been blunt. He didn't know how else to be, though he often envied Jace and Izzy when they were able to speak so eloquently and able to put others at ease with a few well-placed phrases. Magnus stared at him blankly, confusion clouding his gold-green eyes. Alec could feel his heart pounding away like a hammer inside his chest.

"I know you don't like living here at the Institute, so I haven't accepted yet. I know it's a big decision for us to make but we only have until Sunday to decide because Jia is going back to Idris."

"We?" Magnus asked him sceptically. "You can't honestly think they would be ok with us running the Institute together? And where would we live? Would we have to live apart?" Magnus looked pale, as if he was about to throw up.

"No – wait – what? They don't want you to run the Institute; they want me to run it. You're a Warlock, you can't run it. But we would both live here, obviously. I don't think I would be able to run the place if we lived in Brooklyn. Why would we have to live apart?"

Magnus' worried expression suddenly broke into a relieved smile.

"Bloody hell Alec, you scared the life out of me! I thought you were about to break up with me or something!"

Alec was so shocked his jaw almost hit the floor. He pulled his Warlock towards him and embraced him fiercely. "I could never part from you Magnus, you know that," he whispered into his lover's ear.

"So what do you think?" he asked after a while.

"About you being the Head of the New York Institute?"

Alec nodded and buried his face into the crook of Magnus' neck.

"I think you were born to do this. You're wasted on just being a demon-killer and a foot soldier. You will make a fantastic leader, Alec. After all, you know your name means 'leader of men'?"

"I do know Ancient Greek, Magnus," Alec reminded him with a sigh. "But a meaning of a name doesn't make it true."

"Ooh I don't know, I've always thought there was some truth in it..." he whispered darkly. "If you don't go and tell Consul Penhallow you accept the position then I will go tell her on your behalf," Magnus told him sternly, breaking their embrace in order to look him square in the face. Alec smiled warmly at his boyfriend. This was really happening to him. He had always wanted to help his parents run the Institute but had never in his wildest dreams imagined he would be offered the job himself.

"Can I tell her in the morning?" Alec asked sweetly. "She threatened something about announcing it at the party and I would quite like to celebrate just the two of us tonight." "Privately," he added in a low voice, full of meaning and promise.


	2. Chapter 2

"This is definitely not scary at all."

Alec stared intensely at the familiar blue eyes in front of him that currently looked frightened and over-tired. Being a Shadowhunter meant that Alec didn't get scared easily by much, or if he did his body and mind had learned long ago to push that fear down to a place where it couldn't see the light of day. But here he was, trying to convince himself that he wasn't frightened; and that fear that so often got pushed away somewhere dark and inconceivable was now likely to make a rather graphic reappearance in the toilet bowl next to him if he didn't get himself under control.

"You are being ridiculous Alexander," he told his reflection sternly, but the words made him blanch and feel like all the air had been sucked out of his lungs because he sounded so like his mother when he said it. He leant over the sink, half-resting his bodyweight on the cool ceramic and tried to take in a deep breath, hoping that it would help slow down his racing heart. He felt a small clench in his chest as he briefly remembered his mother and wished that she was still with him and able to give him a stern talking to. The thought, though only fleeting, threatened to bring him to tears and he threw his head back dramatically and looked up at the magnolia ceiling to try and will the moisture back into him with the aid of gravity.

"Alec?!"

"I'm in here!"

Magnus appeared at the entrance to the bathroom in a flurry of glittery splendour. His boyfriend was about to say something but stopped himself and suddenly appeared concerned when he spotted Alec's countenance and pale face.

"Sweetheart –" he began

"Don't. I'll be fine. I'm just a bit nervous. What did you want?" Magnus furrowed his brow and strode over with purpose. The Warlock wrapped his arms protectively around the Shadowhunter and pulled him away from the sink into a warming hug.

"I was just wondering if you knew where my boots were. The ones with the red on them and the tie buckle? You'll be fine, _sayang_. You've been running the Institute for weeks anyway. Why should today be any different?"

"Because today I am officially in charge, not just holding the fort. If anything goes wrong from now on I will be directly responsible." Alec buried his face into Magnus' neck and breathed in his scent, allowing the familiar and lovely smell to wash through him and calm him.

"It's alright; I promise I won't get you into trouble."

Alec could feel and hear the cheeky smile on his lover's face, rather than see it. He pulled away and gave the other man a small shove in his shoulder.

"Ow!" Magnus announced dramatically in response, but Alec ignored him.

"I'm serious. I think I may have stage fright…" Alec mumbled and looked down at the tiled floor.

"You're not a performing monkey, Alec," Magnus told him seriously, pulling the side of his face up so their eyes were locked. Alec was only able to smile weakly at his boyfriend.

"You, my love, are _the Head of the New York Institute_; a fine example of a Nephilim warrior and the hottest piece of ass in the tri state area, possibly the entire world."

Alec shot his lover a dangerous look that made the Warlock chuckle and plant a small, chaste kiss on his cheek. He hated it when Magnus referred to him as 'a piece of ass' or similar crude epithets, especially before 9am. And Magnus knew it and delighted in dropping in the odd comment to annoy him deliberately.

"They're in the closet – I put them away last night," Alec sighed, feeling too unwell to berate him any further. It took a second for Magnus to realise that Alec was referring to the boots he hadn't been able to find.

"Thanks," he said when he eventually comprehended. "You know I'm only a phone call away if you need me. And I know I can't say _nothing_ will happen, because we both know demons tend to show up at the most inopportune times, but I know everything will be fine. Isabelle and Jace are here and I am only over in Astoria so can be back to you in a flash if you need me."

"How long do you think you'll be?" Alec asked hopefully.

"You know I have no way of telling, baby," Magnus cooed at him, stroking his hair tenderly. "The Astoria appointment will be the long one, but I did promise that I would go see a Warlock in the West Village this afternoon who is having a bit of trouble with a pixie, so I will make my excuses and leave Astoria by two, half two the latest. Should be back with you by four I should imagine."

"Great. Nine hours by myself…" he grumbled darkly, knowing he was being unfair, but also loving the way Magnus' nose crinkled when he thought Alec was mad with him for neglecting him.

"Oh darling, come on," Magnus pleaded, gripping Alec's hands in his own and resting his forehead on the Shadowhunter's. "I love you."

"I love you too," Alec told him earnestly, kissing his lips gently.

"I will make it up to you later," Magnus told him with a wink, and Alec couldn't help but laugh. Magnus had certainly made him feel better. If he could just make it through today he knew he would feel better by tomorrow. Or, judging by the way Magnus was licking his lips, he was going to feel a lot better by this evening.

He decided to see Magnus out and then felt immediately stupid waving him off at the entrance to the Church. He was hardly Magnus' housewife. Then, with a deep breath, Alec went up to the Institute to begin his first day as its Head. Butterflies were beating up a storm in his stomach as he attempted to walk towards the Office as calmly as possible.

"Morning!"

Alec almost shot out of his skin as Jace jumped out at him and cheerily chorused in his ear.

"Jumpy little fella, aren't you?" Jace mocked, an annoying little smile playing at his lips and a single golden eyebrow cocked. Alec had fallen into the wall when his _parabatai_ had startled him so in order to try and maintain a modicum of dignity he straightened up as much as he could and coughed dismissively. Being tall anyway, Alec always felt a buzz of precious superiority over his adopted brother when he rose to his full height and knew he stood a few inches higher. Alec glared at him and swept away in defiance.

"Hey, wait up!" Jace yelled and bounded after him, almost knocking him over as he collided (deliberately, Alec suspected) into him.

"You going to come training?"

"Training?" Alec asked him incredulously.

"Yes, Alec. Trai-ning. It's what we have to do to stay in tip-top demon-hunting shape? Just because Sebastian is gone it doesn't mean all the demons in the Universe have disappeared."

"I am aware of what training is and what it entails, thanks."

"So why won't you come and train with me?"

"You _know_ why I can't come training with you."

"No, I don't. Why can't you?"

Alec halted abruptly and turned to face him.

"Please don't Jace, not today. Just give me a break just this once? Please?" He knew begging wasn't a very leader-y thing to do, but the thought of Jace goading him and getting him into trouble today made him want to be violently sick.

"I don't know what you are talking about and I have no idea why you won't come and train with me." To be fair to him, Jace was starting to look genuinely concerned. "Don't tell me you're too good to train with me now you are Head of the New York Institute?" he teased.

"Hey guys!" Izzy's voice carried from the other end of the hallway. "You going to the training room? I was going to head there and do some practice with the new khopesh blades that arrived the other day. Everyone used them quite a bit in Paris." She looked carefully from one of them to the other, inspecting them with a confused expression on her face. "What's going on? Have you two been fighting?"

"Alec is far too important to train with us now he's the Head of the Institute Izzy. Come, let's we base foot soldiers leave the High Commander to his… High Commanding, or whatever it is he does." Jace was grinning wickedly and flourishing his hands dramatically as he mocked him.

"Shut up Jace," Alec grumbled. It wasn't the best retort in the world.

"Yes sir!" Jace yelled as he stood to attention and saluted.

"Jackass."

"So why can't you come training then?" his sister asked him, ignoring Jace completely. He envied her sometimes.

"I want to, but I just can't. This is a big responsibility…"

"Well what Head of Institute duties have you got to do today?"

"There's the shipment of new Seraph Blades… And, you know, it's my first _official_ day today and Jia might call or send a fire note or something."

"Wait, didn't you order the Seraph Blades on Friday?" Isabelle asked him suspiciously.

"Yeah, but I should be around in case there is a problem with the order or the shipment or anything," Alec told her in a small voice. He hadn't even managed to convince himself.

"So actually what you are saying is that you don't actually have anything to do that is involved with the running of this place?" she asked with a smirk.

"Yay! Alec can come play with us!" Jace rejoiced mockingly.

"Look guys, I don't think it's a good idea to leave my post…"

"Alexander Gideon Lightwood: the running of the New York Institute is a very serious and important duty. But first and foremost you are a Shadowhunter and you need to train. If any of the Clave needs to contact you urgently then you will still be reachable by fire note up in the training room."

She sounded so final as she walked off that Alec and Jace followed her without another word.

_Izzy would have been way better at this than me…_

Alec's gloomy thoughts and general nervousness didn't subside until he had gone a few rounds with his feather staff against a mannequin. He felt a little bit sorry for the mannequin, but at least he was smiling again and his stomach no longer felt like it was doing acrobatics. Before he knew it the clock that hung high on the west wall of the room was showing two o'clock.

"Lunch?" Izzy announced. Jace looked at him, a scared look in his eyes.

"Ummm… I think I'm still not feeling too well," Alec lied. He was ravenous.

Isabelle clucked loudly and rolled her eyes as she packed away a few throwing blades. "There's some cold meat in the fridge left over from when Aline cooked. And I picked up some bread and French cheese from Union Square this morning. Thought we could have a 'french lunch'."

"Wow. I have to admit, for the first time, the idea of you preparing lunch hasn't made me nauseous Iz," Jace conceded. She scowled at him and slammed the lid shut on a weapons trunk. Alec was just about to go and break up whatever fight ensued between them when a fire note appeared in front of him. He grabbed it and opened it up quickly, curious to discover its content; his siblings stared over at him, their impending scuffle suddenly forgotten.

_Hi Alec,_

_Hope you are well. I've been trying to get through to you this morning with no luck. Can you give me a quick call urgently please?_

_Thanks and speak soon,_

_Jia_

"Shit. It's from the Consul," Alec told them. He could feel the colour drain from his face.

"What did she say?" Isabelle asked excitedly. She was so nosy sometimes and appeared to live for the latest gossip. Alec furrowed his brow accusedly at his siblings.

"She said she's been calling all morning and I need to give her a call back – urgently," he told them grimly before sweeping around and stalking irritably from the room. It was all their fault, convincing him to spend all day in the training room, that he had missed all of Jia's calls. He really hoped that this didn't mean he was in trouble.

Isabelle and Jace were quick to follow him and on his heels in a matter of seconds; his sister grabbed the note from him and read it. If he hadn't been in a rush to get back to the office and call the Consul back he would have told her off for her manners.

"Alec, this doesn't seem serious at all. She sounds like she just wants to chat!"

He ignored her.

Alec hurried into the library and headed straight for the black telephone with a direct line into Idris. He felt slightly numb, as if his panic had acted like some sort of anaesthetic. The phone was ringing by the time he realised Isabelle and Jace had followed him into the room and it was now too late to demand that they clear off as the Consul could answer at any second.

"Consul Penhallow," came the clear, familiar voice on the other end of the line.

"Um, hi, it's Alec. Alec Lightwood." He tried to sound nonchalant, but Alec thought the slight shake in his voice was noticeable nevertheless.

"Alec!" she responded cheerily, immediately making him feel a little better. "How's it going? Did you know that today is your first official day as Head of the New York Institute?"

"Yeah, I know…"

"Well how is everything then? Not had any disasters have you? You weren't around earlier – I do hope it wasn't a demon attack."

"No, I was just training with Isabelle and Jace," he told her truthfully. Best to be honest and take responsibility for his actions than get caught out about it later and branded a liar; he'd never been good at lying, unlike his sister who made it look like an art-form.

"Oh, splendid. That is something that will be coming up at the next Council meeting actually – how too many people in the Clave with administrative-based jobs don't do enough training and patrolling. Good to see you're on the pulse."

Alec gawked.

"But I do have something very important to ask you, Alexander. As Jace and Isabelle are approaching eighteen next year New York is one of the most senior of our Institutes at the moment."

Alec was so shocked at her response to his training earlier that words didn't want to form for him anymore, and he found himself murmuring in ascent rather than actually speaking.

"We're having a bit of a crisis in Idris at the moment. As you know, we suffered a heavy loss and extensive damage to the City. Many children were orphaned because of the Battle; it is a grim reality that our people are all too familiar with. Unfortunately, the Academy was ruined and it will take time to rebuild."

"Oh no, that's terrible," Alec managed to tell her, though he wasn't really listening. If running the Institute meant that he could just carry on training and hunting with Jace and Izzy and not doing too much else then this was going to work out wonderfully. He would have to visit Idris quite a bit from now on for meetings and the like, but this did mean that the change to his day-to-day life would be fairly minimal.

"Yes, indeed. I am going to be completely frank with you, Alec. We have an abundance of young Nephilim here in Idris and only a limited amount of room to house them. To be honest, until we can get the demon towers up and running to full power again, I would not feel comfortable having all of those who were orphaned remaining in Idris at all, especially as many of the remaining families have moved away. I need the Institute to help shoulder the burden."

By the time he had finished the phone call Isabelle and Jace both looked thoroughly bored. They had remained in the library with him whilst he had heard what the Consul had to say no doubt with the hope that they would overhear some important piece of gossip.

"Well?" Isabelle asked him, not without a certain amount of irritation.

Alec let out a sigh and sat back in the large wing-backed chair, the vast desk separating himself from his siblings. He suddenly felt exhausted.

"They want the Institute to take in a couple of kids," he told them both candidly. There was no point trying to sugarcoat it. Isabelle and Jace stared at him, their mouths agape and barely comprehending. "A lot of kids were orphaned because of Sebastian; and the Academy… well, let's just say it doesn't really exist anymore. Even if it did, they wouldn't be able to take in so many Nephilim children. They are spreading the orphans amongst all of the Institutes that have capacity."

"Wards? Are we ready for that?" Isabelle asked him seriously. Alec could only shrug. He didn't know what this meant or what to do. He couldn't have refused the Consul's request, though he was beginning to feel his nausea returning.

"I'm not sure I'm ready for kids…" Jace observed. Alec shot him a withering look

"How many do we get? Who are they?" his sister enquired, her pretty face serious and pale.

"Two boys – they're brothers, one is fourteen and the other is ten. Their parents were killed in the Battle but fought on our side – Sebastian didn't turn them. I can't remember their names now, but I know they have lived in Alicante all their lives. It's just not safe there at the moment, and there is no capacity for them to stay with families in the City."

"Alec, we're hardly qualified to take care of any kids. You're the only one here who is of age and you're only eighteen. Jia had to ask the Council if it would be ok for me and Isabelle to continue living at the Institute with you without any additional adult supervision and I know they made a special dispensation because of the circumstances, but asking us to take on two children as well? I'm not sure we would be able to cope." Finally, Jace was talking sense and not acting like a complete prat.

"Jia thought it would be a good idea to ask Jocelyn and Luke to help out. What do you guys think?"

"You're the one in charge Alec," Isabelle told him loudly and rather sternly.

"Well I don't particularly need Clary's parents at the Institute all of the time…" Jace said as he wrung his hands in an uncharacteristically nervous gesture. Alec could sympathise with that – although there was no chance of him ever having to spend time with Magnus' parents, he remembered all too well how awkward it was to be intimate with the Warlock in front of his own mother. Jace and Clary's relationship had always been intense, but since the big battle things had got a lot more heated between them. He wasn't sure why Jace had felt the need to tell him all the details, though Alec had tried his best to indulge him rather than turning his nose up in distaste and pulling out the 'gay card' (which was how Izzy had so eloquently put it and urged him to do). He could imagine that if Jocelyn and Luke's presence at the Institute were to increase it would seriously affect their (very unnecessarily noisy) sex life.

"It was just a thought. Don't think they will be moving in here any time soon," Alec tried to soothe, smiling weakly at his _parabatai_.

"Well I think it is a cheek to ask you to do this. I bet they aren't sending any to LA," Izzy complained.

Alec wrinkled his nose at this. "Well, no, probably not. They have more than their fair share of young Nephilim at the LA Institute so it would hardly be fair to burden them with any more. Besides, it makes more sense to spread the orphans as evenly as possible geographically, so that we have decent numbers of Shadowhunters in every part of the world. The one boy is fourteen years old; he will be able to help out with patrols."

"And how do you think Magnus will feel about all this?" she asked him calmly, though her expression was one of fury and displeasure. He hadn't expected her to be thrilled about the idea. Though he had no idea why she was reacting like this. Alec tried to ponder what his boyfriend's reaction would be, but Magnus was far too unpredictable for him to fathom it. The Warlock did seem to love children and was very good with them, so he hoped this would not cause a complete blow-up.

"I'm not saying you wouldn't make great fathers, but have you spoken about having children?" she continued, raising her eyebrows in question. Alec almost fell off his chair.

He had never thought about having children. He was gay and he had accepted a long time ago that he would never have a relationship with a woman and would therefore never have children. Taking on the two brothers as an official Clave duty didn't count as having children, surely? They weren't babies and there wasn't any suggestion that they would require adopting. The shock of his sister's suggestion was enough to start his mind racing, though. Would Magnus think that Alec would have to take on the responsibility of being these boys' father?

Isabelle let out a long sigh and flung her arms in the air. "I just don't want this amazing position as Head of the New York Institute to become a burden for you Alec."

He drooped his heads into his hands in exasperation. He was definitely not going to enjoy telling Magnus about all of this. The room had turned very awkwardly silent suddenly, and when Alec looked up he found Izzy was staring at her nails, trying to bite down her frustration and Jace was simply staring into the distance, a strange expression on his face.

"Jace?" Alec enquired. "What do you think?"

His _parabatai_ cleared his throat. "I was just wondering whether you think I am a burden too."

Alec bolted upright and looked at him with concern. He could tell Jace was being serious.

"Of course we don't, what a ridiculous thing to say," Isabelle told him, her voice softening now.

"Well, these boys have lost their parents, like I lost mine. And like me they have been thrown to the mercy of the Lightwood family and the New York Institute. Was I such a burden when I came to you?"  
Alec jumped to his feet, almost involuntarily, his body clearly outraged by the idea.

"You are not, nor have you ever been, a burden. You _are_ a Lightwood and you always will be part of this family. And these boys will not be a burden either. I know none of us are ready to be parents, but we all have experience of being brothers and sisters. So if it is a family these boys need then we will give it to them. In our own way. Jace, you were looking for parents when you came to us because you had only ever had experience of Valentine and, let's face it, that was hardly a great experience. But these orphans probably had a very loving family that Sebastian cruelly ripped from them and they wont be looking for anyone to replace their mum and dad - just safety and reassurance and kindness."

His own words startled him a little, though he instantly felt proud of himself for the force of his conviction. It would be difficult, but he knew they would all pull together. It was scary, because things would now change; it could mean their family would change entirely. On the other hand, the boys may only be with them for a short time once the Council sorted everything out. These were uncertain times.

Jace smiled warmly at him and that look passed between them when they knew exactly how the other was feeling and thinking.

"And who is going to train them?" Isabelle asked, sounding like she was resigned to the idea of taking in the young Nephilim.

"Ummm…" Alec began before smiling as sweetly as he could at his siblings.

"Alec?"

"Well, the Consul has appointed the two of you actually," he told them as brightly as possible.

It only took about twenty minutes for them both to come around to the idea. In fact, when Alec left them to go and take a call from Magnus they were already discussing training methods and getting a little excited about being in charge of their own students.

"I'm on my way sugarplum!" his lover chorused cheerily down the line. "Are you ok? Everything alright? How was today?"

"Everything's fine," Alec told him, a big grin spreading across his face at the prospect of his boyfriend's return.

"Ok, tell me what's happened," Magnus demanded in a concerned low voice.

"Nothing!" Alec protested. Did Magnus work out a way to read minds whilst he was in Astoria?

"Alec, you just let me get away with calling you 'sugarplum' now tell me what is going on."

"Look, it will be better to tell you when you get here. But it's nothing bad I promise! I wasn't lying when I said everything's fine. I can't wait to see you."

**A/N: My apologies to you all that this took so long to get to you! And my sincere apologies that there is a distinct lack of Malec in this chapter. This one is more of a link and was completely necessary to push the storyline forward. So I am prepared to hear that you didn't like it! But whether you liked it or not, I would love to know what you think. Please leave me a review and make my day! ;-) You can even let me know if you have any ideas for this story or for another Malec story you would like to hear!**

**The next chapter is not far behind this one and will also be fairly lemony... You have been warned!**


	3. Chapter 3

**WARNING: This chapter conatains adult content fairly early on. Reader discretion is advised. **

To say that Magnus accepted the situation when Alec told him would be misleading. Of course, he had sworn to support Alec and promised to help where he could, but he hadn't exactly been thrilled that anyone else was coming to live at the Institute, especially two children. Alec pondered Magnus' reaction for possibly the thousandth time as he lay in bed, letting the early morning sunlight bathe him in warmth. He took in a deep breath and inhaled the scent of the room and his boyfriend sleeping peacefully beside him. Magnus was taking the day off today from seeing any clients or downworlders in order to welcome both Peter and Paul Hawkswood to the Institute with them all. They were going to throw a little party for the boys, hoping it would ease their transition. That had been Magnus' idea, and Alec had thought it was extremely sweet.

Magnus appeared to be enjoying his lie-in a lot, spread-eagled and snoring quietly and contentedly. He was taking up most of the bed, but Alec was used to this by now. He was fine during the night when they slept, but first thing in the morning the Warlock would spread out and lie like a starfish, stretching his long limbs. On more than one occasion he had forced Alec out of bed by doing this.

Alec loved to watch him sleep. He didn't care if it was more than a little creepy. Magnus would stare at Alec for ages as he slept, and when he caught him doing it he would tell the Warlock how much of a stalker he was. But sometimes, he was the one who acted like a stalker, though Magnus didn't know it. He gazed at him now; his lithe, golden form angelic in the glow of the dawn. He was naked and faced downwards, the curves of his body almost iridescent and Alec couldn't help but trace a tentative finger from his shoulders, along the planes of his back and over the beautiful arch of his buttocks. He was so soft and warm and beautiful. Alec often stopped himself and marvelled at the fact that Magnus was his. He was so incredibly lucky.

Magnus began to stir at Alec's light touch, a low sound vibrating from his throat as he purred his appreciation of Alec's attention. Then he gave a long, laboured stretch, extending his legs so far that they hung over the edge of the bed, before rolling over in a quick, fluid, graceful movement to face him. The Warlock captured the Shadowhunter's body in his limbs and pincered him tightly in place, causing him to chuckle.

"Good morning," Alec whispered, encircling his arms about Magnus' torso and planting a lingering kiss on the crown of the other man's head. He smelt gloriously sweet: sandalwood and caramel. Magnus' unique and magical scent was one of the things Alec loved most about his boyfriend.

"Mmmmm…" Magnus murmured, snuggling his cheek into Alec's chest. His face was a little rough with stubble and the sensation made Alec's skin tingle, causing a burning current to pass through his body and settle between his legs.

_How can I _still_ be horny after last night?_

After telling Magnus the news about the Hawkswood children and then discussing it at length with Jace, Clary (who had joined them just before Magnus got back) and Isabelle over dinner, they had retired to bed around nine in order to have a long bath and an early night. Of course, this had been accompanied by a very long and athletic sex session, though they had managed to get to bed before eleven, which certainly did count as an early night for them.

Magnus' hand gently brushed against his erection, causing him to suck in the cool morning air sharply.

"Someone's hard…" Magnus teased him playfully, his hand brushing the sensitive area once more. Alec could only let his head fall backwards and groan, so overcome by his need. His lover's strokes became slightly more forceful, though Alec now longed for skin-to-skin contact. He was wearing pyjama bottoms and he also had the duvet covering him: most inconvenient. The Warlock chuckled sensually, the desire plain to hear on his raspy voice as Alec wriggled out of his clothing and then flung the cover away from him and exposing himself. He had pushed Magnus off him too in his struggle to get free and his Warlock was currently seated next to him, leaning back against the headboard and stretching his upper body with a loud accompanying yawn.

He needed the contact again desperately.

Without a word Alec pounced on top of his boyfriend and kissed him ferociously. Usually, he was careful to wash and brush his teeth in the morning before Magnus got up. He didn't know why, but he always felt a little embarrassed that he might have morning breath or he would awake to discover his hair was sticking up at weird angles, even though Magnus would almost constantly reassure him that he was just as appealing first thing in the morning as he was at any other time of day. This particular morning, however, he had become so aroused upon seeing his lover that he honestly didn't care. He had the rest of the day to feel awkward and embarrassed.

Magnus let out a grunt as their lips connected roughly, his lifted arms all too quickly finding their familiar place on Alec's hips. The Shadowhunter could feel the hardness beneath him and ground downwards into Magnus' growing erection. He loved to make Magnus moan in pleasure.

Reluctantly, Alec broke the kiss in order to reach for the lubricant currently located on the bedside table.

"Alec," Magnus breathed, his eyes burning with desire as he watched the Shadowhunter slick the smooth liquid into his hand slowly and seductively and then stroked it along the Warlock's length. Magnus threw his head back and gasped at the contact before groaning loudly. Alec raised himself up a little further, relieving the pressure building up between both their crotches, and positioned himself over his boyfriend. Grasping his lover's lubricated member tightly and eliciting an even louder moan from Magnus, Alec manoeuvred the Warlock's hardness to his entrance and lowered himself simultaneously. They both gasped in pleasure.

Alec was still loose enough from last night that he felt he didn't need any preparation, though the burning tightness that flared up meant he had to take things painstakingly slowly. Magnus' fingertips pressed mercilessly into his hips and he bit his lower lip in an attempt to suppress his frustration and impatience. Magnus had his eyes shut tight and his face pointed upwards, towards the ceiling. Alec thought he had never seen his boyfriend look hotter than this, and it was a strange feeling to be the one completely in control whilst Magnus unravelled as a result of his ministrations.

"Patience baby," Alec sighed as he pressed down further, to which Magnus responded with a scream from deep in his throat whilst his mouth remained firmly shut, muffling the sound. It was a miracle that Magnus had managed not to move too much or thrust upwards so far, because it would likely hurt Alec if he did.

With one quick movement, Alec removed his hand from around Magnus' penis and sat himself down so the Warlock was completely buried inside him. Magnus was whimpering slightly now and Alec could no longer prevent his own moans of pleasure as he felt his lover deep within him. He cupped the side of Magnus' face tenderly and the other man's eyes fluttered open, their golden-green darkened with lust and they gazed at each other, a look passing between them that spoke only of profound love and connection whilst they were joined in that moment by their bodies, their minds and their souls.

"I love you," Magnus whispered, completely lost in the beautiful moment and barely able to form coherent words. Alec rolled his hips in response, writhing above Magnus and causing the Warlock to scream with desire once more.

"I want you to come inside me," Alec told his lover wickedly, grinning in a playful manner as he gave another roll of his hips. He could see that he was driving his boyfriend crazy doing this. And it felt so good he wasn't sure how long he could keep this up.

"Please baby, please just _move_," Magnus managed to tell him in a barely audible voice.

"Are you begging me Magnus Bane?" he chuckled, to which Magus replied with a 'Ng' sound as he tried to buck his hips upwards, but Alec's bodyweight and position prevented him from thrusting. Alec waited only a moment longer to give his muscles time to adjust to his lover inside him. He rode Magnus hard and unrelenting; his self-control completely failing him once the Warlock began to match his movements by thrusting upwards in a punishing rhythm.

Soon, the world began to dissolve around them; there was only him and Magnus and only pleasure and love in the whole of time and space. Every movement found contact exactly in the right place, sometimes a soft brush and sometimes a hard crash, but always on target. Alec made to grab at his cock, now requiring immediate attention, but his boyfriend batted his hand away and claimed it for himself instead, stroking and squeezing in a tantalising accompaniment to the synchronised movement of their bodies.

He was so close. One look at his lover beneath him, writhing and moaning loudly and incoherently was enough to send him over the edge and he came violently, clamping his muscles as tightly as he could around Magnus' length inside him, allowing Magnus to find his release too. They rode out their orgasms for as long as they could before Alec collapsed on top of the Warlock, completely sated.

He rested his head on Magnus' chest, both of them damp and sticky with perspiration. He winced when Magnus pulled out of him and shifted his body so that he was half-lying on the bed and half-lying on Magnus.

"Sorry darling," Magnus told him softly. But Alec smiled and kissed his boyfriend's smooth golden chest lovingly.

"I don't know why you always apologise to me. It doesn't hurt me you know."

It was a well-practiced dialogue between the two of them. If Alec was being completely honest, he kind of liked the slight pain as it reminded him to come back to reality.

"I am so in love with you," Magnus sighed.

"Aku cinta kamu," Alec responded. "Will you teach me more Indonesian?" he asked suddenly, the idea spontaneously popping into his head.

Magnus chuckled lightly and held him close. "Of course I will if you want me to. I can think of loads of awesome teacher-student situations…"

"Stop making everything so dirty!" Alec protested.

"I think you were the one who made everything dirty this morning, Alexander. Though, I wouldn't complain about being woken up like that anytime the mood takes you in the future. Just saying."

Alec sat up and looked at Magnus with mock hurt. "Excuse me, but I believe it was you and your wandering hands that were being dirty this morning. I didn't ask to be sexually assaulted!" His boyfriend laughed heartily and drew him back into another hug.

"Not sure you've got a great defence case there for assault. I believe your words were 'I want you to come inside me'?"

Alec blushed. He still hadn't managed to control that, even though he was a long way from being embarrassed by Magnus anymore.

"Are you blushing Alexander?" Magnus asked him, a salacious tone colouring his silky voice.

"No…" Alec pouted, making it rather obvious he was lying.

* * *

The atmosphere was charged as they waited in the garden for the new inhabitants of the New York Institute to arrive. Alec was biting his lip again, which earned him a smack from his sister.

"Ok, it's eleven by my watch. You can open the portal now Magnus," Alec announced, trying to sound authoritative. He'd practiced his welcome speech in front of the mirror and in front of Magnus for a good few hours this morning; though he was sure he shouldn't be _this_ nervous. Isabelle was stood close to him, her shoulder touching his upper arm in an effort to comfort his fraying nerves. He'd already had to force her to change her outfit, sorrowing at the fact that he had to tell her a sheer vest top would not be appropriate attire to welcome children.

Right now it was just them, the Lightwoods, forming the Welcome Committee; Jocelyn, Luke and Clary would be joining them for the party a bit later on as Alec didn't want to overwhelm the two boys with too many unfamiliar faces right away. He took a deep breath as the portal, shimmering and fluid appeared before his eyes. It was cold out though thankfully the snow hadn't been too bad and only a light dusting covered the lawns. They were bundled up in coats and scarves, their gear and weapons concealed underneath, though no one would have guessed it to look at them.

Suddenly, two figures popped through the portal. The first Alec recognised as Aline Penhallow, her face rather sombre and dressed in a long black coat and fluffy black ear muffs. She was holding the hand of a small child whose face, barely visible beneath the large thickly knit multi-coloured scarf, was beaming as if the kid had just been told he was getting a puppy.

_This must be the younger one._

The boy looked quite small for a ten year old, though the grey coat he was wearing made him look like a large round boulder. Alec could tell, though, that he was actually very skinny from the two stick-thin legs supporting his almost spherical upper body. He had dark hair and was wearing glasses that were too big for his face.

Alec smiled warmly at him, because he reminded him so much of Max. Isabelle grabbed his hand in a vice-grip and he understood that she saw the resemblance too.

The little boy, however, suddenly lost his sunny countenance and went pale. He looked absolutely terrified and shrunk backwards from the group in fear, still clutching Aline's hand, as if he was attempting to drag them both back through the portal.

"Hi guys!" Aline greeted them. She looked more frustrated than concerned with the small boy tugging at her. Alec walked over to her and kissed her on both cheeks affectionately.

"Hi Aline," he said with a smile before she was yanked away by the child and stumbled away from him.

"Paul!" she yelled, causing the child to stop and hang his head in shame. The boy said nothing, but looked like he was about to cry.

"So this is Paul?" Alec asked, more to try and get the kid's attention than to confirm the fact with Aline.

"Yeah," she said exasperatedly.

At that moment another two figures walked through the portal: Helen Blackthorn and who could only be Peter Hawkswood, the elder brother.

"Thanks Magnus," Helen smiled at the Warlock, signalling for him to close the portal behind them.

"Is it just you? I thought the Consul would be coming," Alec announced quizzically.

"Mum has a big meeting today about the Inquisitor position," Aline told him gravely, still wrestling a little with the young boy who was behaving more distressed by the second. "So it's just us. We thought we would help settle the boys in with you for a bit and I thought I could cook dinner?"

Aline was a very good cook, which they discovered over Christmas when she and Helen had stayed for a while.

"Excellent, sounds great," Alec said and saw Jace fist-pumping the air out of the corner of his eye and Izzy whacking him on the shoulder. Then he went over and greeted Helen in a similar fashion.

"Peter, this is Alexander Lightwood, the Head of the New York Institute," Helen told the older Hawkswood boy. He was tall for his age with fair hair and bright blue eyes. Whereas his little brother was bundled up in a large thick coat, Peter was wearing only a light jacket to shield him from the cold. He had broad shoulders and looked as though he was well trained, though he looked a little underweight and gaunt. His features already had a chiselled, angular quality to them, despite his young age though their sharpness on his too-thin face made him look serious and a little scary.

"Pleased to meet you," Peter told him, offering out his hand with a stern expression that made him look much older than fourteen.

"Pleasure to meet you too, Peter," Alec greeted him, shaking the boy's hand, which he noticed was ice-cold. Alec had been hoping for a far less formal introduction, but judging by Peter's demeanour a hug would not have gone down too well. "Please call me Alec. This is my sister Isabelle Lightwood and my brother and _parabatai_ Jace Lightwood," Alec told him, gesturing to his siblings. They smiled nervously in his direction and Isabelle gave a little wave. Alec did note that Peter's eyes lingered a little longer than was polite upon Isabelle.

All of a sudden, Paul Hawkswood managed to break free from Aline's grasp and ran over to his elder brother, cowering behind the taller boy. Alec was about to go and try to comfort the little boy and tell him not to be afraid, when Peter turned around and slapped his little brother with unrestrained force around the face.

"Stop it Paul!" Peter yelled at the child, who cowered backwards, his hand covering his face and tears streaming from them and clouding his glasses. "Stop being such a little coward! You are an embarrassment and a disgrace! Mother and Father would be ashamed of you behaving like a scared little animal."

"Ok that's enough!" Isabelle screamed, walking over to Peter Hawkswood and pushing him roughly away from his little brother. Alec and Jace both followed her and held her back: she was furious. Aline and Helen both rushed over too, their mouths wide with shock.

Paul was crying uncontrollably by now; he was sat on the snow-covered grass and weeping loudly and openly, cradling his face. His glasses had fallen off somewhere.

"This is ridiculous!" Peter yelled, looking over at Helen and Aline. "This one only looks like he's about twelve, the girl is a psychopath and we all know about _him_," Peter bit out angrily, pointing at Jace. "The Lightwoods are all criminals and this is not a suitable place for my brother. I demand to be returned to Alicante immediately."

Alec was about to say something when the familiar sound of his boyfriend's voice echoed from behind the eldest Hawkswood boy.

"Hey Paul, my name is Magnus. Are you hurt?"

The entire group wheeled to see what was happening. Magnus was crouched in the snow next to the small boy, addressing him on his level. Paul Hawkswood had stopped crying and was looking at Magnus with an expression of awe mixed with timidity. Magnus smiled at the child and it seemed to calm him; Paul shook his head and lowered his hand from his cheek, indicating he was ok (though his cheek was slightly red from the blow). The Warlock tried to hand the boy his glasses, which he had managed to retrieve from the snow, but little Paul made no move to take them from him.

"Shall we go inside? It's very cold out here. And we've got you some pizza and some cheesecake inside, because you can't live in New York without trying the pizza and the cheesecake." Magnus was smiling calmly at Paul and, although Paul was not smiling back he was a lot calmer now, apparently soothed by the kind words. "Hey, you want to see a magic trick?" Instantly, Paul nodded his head enthusiastically and Magnus proceeded to whip up some of the snow at their feet and made it swirl around in his palm. This managed to get Paul to smile a little.

And then something obviously snapped within Peter. "Get away from him! Get away from him!" he yelled at Magnus. The boy began to charge towards the Warlock, a demented look in his eyes. "Leave him alone you filthy downworlder!"

Magnus was as quick as a flash; raising himself up to full height he was a venerable sight, standing well over six feet. With a crackle and a pulse of blue energy Peter Hawkswood was magically propelled backwards through the air and landed with a hard thud in the soft snow.

Everyone ran to the Hawkswood boy. Except Alec, who ran to Magnus. No one spoke to his boyfriend like that.

Jace grabbed Peter by the front of his jumper and hauled him up into the air, as if the boy weighed no more than a feather. "You do not threaten _my_ family, you hear?" he threatened quietly. Peter looked terrified briefly, before finding his courage and starting to struggle. But Jace held him tight.

_Did Jace just refer to Magnus as his family? Did we all just get sucked into a parallel universe?_

"Are you ok?" Alec asked Magnus, placing a worried hand on his lover's shoulder. The Warlock nodded slowly, his eyes fixed on Peter. Poor little Paul was terrified again; tears streaming silently down his cheeks as he looked on in horror.

"Check he's ok?" Magnus asked him, indicating the youngest Hawkswood boy. Alec did as he was asked and knelt in the cold wet snow next to Paul. They both watched Magnus silently as he walked languidly over to the group, where Jace was still holding Peter aloft whilst he kicked and screamed and protested the treatment. The three girls kept their distance, their arms folded around themselves and making no effort to intervene. Isabelle was scowling and beginning to look dangerous.

"Put him down, Jace," Magnus told Alec's _parabatai_. Jace leered at him for a moment before complying. Suddenly, Paul grabbed onto Alec's arm.

"Hey, are you alright Paul?" he asked the frightened boy. And then Paul hugged him and Alec felt his heart break a little. These kids had been through so much and they needed help, not just a place to stay.

"Thank you Jonathan, but I can fight my own battles," Magnus said dangerously. Peter was brushing himself off angrily. "Let me tell you, I have faced much more frightening Nephilim than you in my time. I am Magnus Bane, the High Warlock of Brooklyn and I have fought side by side with Shadowhunters for centuries, in order to keep the peace and to keep this world safe. I would watch your mouth and keep your anger in check in the future, unless you want to be turned into a slug."

Peter took a gulp, realising that Magnus was completely serious.

"Now I suggest we go inside because I am freezing," the Warlock finished with a decisive nod before swishing his overcoat dramatically and stalking away from them towards the Institute.

Alec decided it was probably his responsibility to talk to Peter about what had happened, though the thought made him anxious and his stomach knot. Paul grabbed a hold of his hand and seemed reluctant to let go.

"Come on Peter, let's go inside and get you settled in," Alec told the older of the Hawkswoods as gently and as friendly as he could. It would do no good to stir anything up now.

"Well I think he should go straight back to Alicante and live on the streets," Isabelle piped up menacingly. Alec shot her a dangerous look that told her to leave it. Peter scowled at her but said nothing.

"That won't benefit anyone, Izzy. We all need to calm down, I think. Let's all go inside and try to get warm. We need to discuss some things and I think it would be a good idea to get to know each other." Isabelle stomped off and made her way inside and was followed by Jace, who signalled to Alec with a brief look that he should call him if he needed him. This left Alec, Aline and Helen and the Hawkswoods outside, with Paul still hanging onto Alec.

"I am so sorry, Alec," Helen muttered quietly.

"There is no need to apologise for me," Peter told her sternly before staring at Alec, a strange and hard expression making his young features look much older. "I am sorry for my outburst," he told Alec simply, though his apology sounded bitter and forced.

"Apology accepted," Alec told him slowly, trying to work the boy out. He really didn't need another confrontation right now, especially since his feet were now going numb from the snow that surrounded them. Peter Hawkswood then grunted and buried his hands into his thin jacket. He looked very cold and tired as he trudged off and went inside the Institute, not bothering to look back or make any more effort. Aline followed him with a frustrated sigh.

"So… how have you been?" Helen asked him, sounding a little awkward and trying to fill the heavy silence. She was clearly one of those people who found quiet uncomfortable. They began to walk towards the Institute, Paul still gripping tightly onto Alec's hand.

"Yeah, it's all going well here. Though I was a little terrified when I heard about…" Alec stopped abruptly, remembering Paul at his side. He smiled a little nervously at her and shrugged. Helen chuckled a little and nodded, indicating she knew what he meant.

"Well, thank you. We really don't have any space in LA and, by the looks of it, you're a natural with children!" she beamed at him.

"Huh?" he asked her, slightly astonished by her suggestion.

"Though I never thought Magnus would be good with kids too…"

"Well, he's more of a cat person than a 'kid' person, I guess."

"He's definitely a keeper, Alec," she told him with a grin. Alec couldn't help returning the smile.

_Yep, definitely a keeper_.

"Hey, I was wondering if you could do me a favour?" she suddenly asked him, just as they entered through the church.

"What's that?"  
"I was wondering if me and Aline could stay the night?"

"Yeah, sure. We could do with all the help we could get…" Alec suddenly remembered Paul and looked down at him to check the kid wasn't offended. Paul just gazed back at him, his face blank and Alec tried a tentative smile to no avail.

_This kid is kind of creepy…_

"I have a big day planned for tomorrow, so I'm afraid we won't be around to help," Helen told him as she pulled off her scarf. Alec raised a questioning eyebrow at her and Helen giggled furiously.

"Ok, you caught me out! I have been dying to tell someone for ages… I'm going to ask Aline to marry me tomorrow."

Alec felt his jaw dropping in shock, but quickly realised and snapped his mouth shut as tightly as possible. As Helen's face began to drop with worry, Alec stammered out congratulations, causing her to jump on him and hug him excitedly.

"We already exchanged family rings, but I wanted to make it official. I asked her mother's permission and she agreed! We don't know if we will be able to have an official Shadowhunter ceremony yet, because it has never been done before, but Jia is bringing it up at the next Council meeting."

"But aren't you both a little young to be getting married?" Alec asked her, genuinely curious because he was sure that both Helen and Aline were younger than him

"Well, we probably won't get married right away," she reasoned. "But I love her more than anything and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. It makes sense to me that we would get married. And I thought, 'why not do it sooner rather than later?' I want everyone to know that we are committed to each other for the rest of our lives."

He had to hand it to her, she did make a lot of sense.

The rest of the day was tense and extremely awkward. The two Hawkswood boys were mostly silent and, although there weren't any more violent outbursts, getting them to talk was like trying to get blood from a stone. Alec had known it would be difficult to take in two younger boys, but he hadn't envisioned it being quite as bad as the situation now.

He decided to give Isabelle the responsibility of training Peter, to which she protested loudly. Although his sister was volatile, Alec knew she had a better chance to get through to him than Jace, who had almost punched him when he arrived. Alec also reasoned that Jace would be able to empathise with Paul, because he had been about the same age when he had moved to the New York Institute under the guardianship of the Lightwoods himself. Jace had been ok with the situation, though he did insist on the boys being trained at the same time, with both him and Isabelle present, just in case Peter decided to lash out again. More for Peter's protection than Isabelle's though…

When they had finally not been able to endure the tension anymore they had escorted the brothers to bed. Alec had decided to give them rooms close to each other, but not adjoining, hoping that would allow each to have his own space but also the proximity of the other to feel safe.

As he was lying in Magnus' arms that night, both of them a little shell-shocked from everything that had happened and staring wide-awake at the ceiling, Alec suddenly felt uneasy.

"Magnus?"

"Yes love?"

"Helen and Aline are going to get married," he blurted, then cursed inwardly because he remembered Helen had told him in confidence.

"What?"

"I mean, Helen is going to propose to Aline tomorrow, she has this big romantic day planned."

"Well that's lovely for them," Magnus said, sounding a little amused.

"Helen asked Jia's permission and she said Jia agreed to it. Do you think the Clave will actually let them get married?"

"Hmmm… I don't know. Nephilim are a little set in their ways, as you know too well."

Alec remembered his parent's disapproval of his sexuality – they had pretended to be fine with it but had then tried, rather unsuccessfully, to 'reason' with him about it. The idea of a homosexual Shadowhunter was practically unheard of until he had kissed Magnus in the Hall of Accords in front of the entire Clave, just before they had assembled to fight Valentine's demons. Aline Penhallow had even thanked him at some point afterwards, for giving her the courage to come out herself and start her relationship with Helen. But marriage? A sacred ceremony? Alec couldn't see the Clave going for it and it made him incredibly sad.

"I hope it will be ok," he whispered meekly, burying his face into his boyfriend's chest.

"Hey, you know they've legalised gay marriage in Canada?" Magnus said brightly. "And in some other countries around the world! Trust me, the tide is turning and the world is becoming more tolerant. Eventually the Nephilim will follow, but it will take people like Helen and Aline to trailblaze any change, to preach tolerance and acceptance and equality."

Alec sat up suddenly.

"What about me?" he asked seriously, though Magnus responded with a small giggle.

"You are the original trailblazer Alexander," his boyfriend chortled as he pulled him back down into bed and into a tight hug.

"Do you want to marry me?" Alec blurted out. His heart was pounding and he felt a little light-headed. Magnus went very still for a moment before he began to snigger.

"That was sooo romantic," he teased.

He felt his heart plummet within his chest, as if it was made from lead. He deliberately slowed his breathing, trying to think about what he had just said and how his lover had reacted.

"Alec?" Magnus asked him, sounding slightly concerned. "Alec?" he asked again when Alec didn't respond. Magnus sat up, forcing Alec to sit up too and the Warlock gazed intently into his eyes. "Were you being serious?" Alec left it about a micro-second too long to deny the accusation. "Oh my god, you were serious…" Magnus whispered frantically.

"No, of course I wasn't serious," Alec told him as calmly as possible, though he averted his gaze because he found he couldn't stand to see that frightened look in Magnus' beautiful feline-esque eyes. Magnus cleared his throat in an attempt to get Alec to look at him again, but the Shadowhunter stubbornly refused.

"Did you just _propose_ to me Alexander?" Magnus voice was so seductive and beautiful and it often made him shiver.

"Not exactly…" Alec responded carefully and slowly. He could feel his face was burning as apparently all the blood in his body rushed to his cheeks.

"_Sayang_ please talk to me about this?" Magnus purred at him, grabbing hold of his hands and stroking his knuckles tenderly with his thumbs.

"Well, I wasn't proposing that we get engaged or anything like Helen and Aline. I just wanted to know whether you wanted to marry me, you know, at some point… in the future. Is that something we could – or we _should_ – do?" Alec looked up nervously and found his lover's gaze.

"Alexander, you are the love of my life. I must admit that I have never thought too much about marriage, because my previous relationships have always been with people to whom tradition and ceremony didn't mean too much: otherwise they would not have been with a Warlock. But you are so wonderfully different to anything or anyone I have ever known and I would do anything for you, Alec. Is getting married important to you?"

"I used to think about getting married when I was younger. To a girl. When I realised I was gay, I always imagined that I would marry a female Shadowhunter and just pretend to be in love with her. So we could have children and continue the family line and all that. I didn't even think it was possible for two men or two women to get married to each other until Helen spoke to me earlier and told me that she was going to propose to Aline, with every intention of actually getting married to her. It shocked me, I guess, and made me think. About us. About where our relationship was going."

"Alec, you don't need a wedding ceremony to know that you will stay with a person forever. Getting married will not change how I feel about you."

"I know that! But, it's just… The ultimate declaration, isn't it? And you're right, I don't think it would change anything between us, I don't think it is something we need to do. But you said that the world, especially the Nephilim world, _needs_ people to lead the way, to bring about change. Maybe it is our responsibility to do that, not just Helen and Aline's…"

"In that case," Magnus whispered, causing Alec's heart to skip a beat. "_Yes_."

Alec blinked at him.

"I do want to marry you. I want to marry you so that we can show the world - Downworld, Nephilim and Mundane – how much we love each other. And so that our love may inspire others to be brave and to live and love openly and with acceptance and support."

"I had a dream about you once," Alec told him, to which his boyfriend raised his eyebrows in question. Alec couldn't suppress his blush as he pulled off his Family ring and held it in front of their faces. "You were wearing this," he whispered. "I want you to wear it, Magnus."

"So you _are_ proposing to me?" Magnus asked with a sly grin.

"I don't know… I – I – think so?" he stammered. Magnus took the ring from him and slid it on one of his long fingers on his left hand.

"You have to ask me Alec. You have to ask me so you will always know what I say, what I choose," Magnus told him softly, running his hand along Alec's cheekbone. Alec could feel the strange new sensation of his own ring now on Magnus' hand. "And it wouldn't hurt you to get down on one knee would it?" Magnus smirked at him.

His entire body seemed to harden and steel itself as he quickly jumped up. He knelt down by the side of the bed and took Magnus' hand that now bore the Lightwood family ring in his own.

"Will you marry me?" he asked, trying to sound bold, despite the quiver in his voice.

"Yes," Magnus answered immediately, without a beat. "A thousand times yes, Alexander Gideon Lightwood."

**AN: So I decided to kick off the lemons early on in this one! This is such a long chapter, I know, and you have my apoliogies, but I really didn't want to have to split it up!  
Please do let me know what you think - an awful lot happened in this chapter! Let me know if you have any questions about it, or if you have any suggestions/ opinions about the story and/ or my writing!  
I really do love to hear what you think so please please please leave a review!**

**Always remember the three F's: 'Follow', 'Favourite' and 'Feedback'.**

**And a big thank you to all who have reviewed or favourited/ followed this story alreay.**  
**X**


	4. Chapter 4

Alec felt like he was walking on air as he strode to the kitchen. The tantalising smell of freshly cooked bacon wafted through the hallway, a good sign that Izzy hadn't got hold of it and burnt it. He felt a slight flutter within his chest when he recalled last night.

_Am I really getting married?_

He could hardly believe it. So much so, in fact, that he had to check with Magnus this morning it hadn't all been a very strange dream. This had led to a lot of blushing and embarrassment followed by a steamy (in more ways than one) shower. They had decided to not tell anyone yet, partly because they really didn't want to steal Helen and Aline's thunder. Today, Helen was going to propose to Aline and as this whole marriage thing was really Helen's idea, Alec didn't feel right announcing it before they did.

But mostly, they had decided to keep it quiet because of the domestic situation they currently faced. That lovely fluttering feeling disappeared all too quickly and Alec suddenly felt his stomach lurch with anxiety over the prospect of encountering Peter and Paul Hawkswood this morning.

"Good morning," Alec announced as cheerily as he could as he entered the kitchen. Aline was stood over the stove, frying bacon whilst Helen fiddled with the coffee pot. Isabelle was laying plates out on the table where Peter and Paul Hawkswood were sat. Only Helen replied with a "Morning!" back at him. Aline nodded in his direction, though she looked like she was concentrating on the cooking. Isabelle completely ignored him as she set about her task.

"Thanks," Peter said glumly as Isabelle placed a plate in front of him. His face flushed furiously and his eyes were downcast, his head bowed so that he was mostly closed off from the rest of them. He was in gear already, though Alec could not see Isabelle wanting to take him training today.

The atmosphere in the room could have been cut with a knife and Alec quickly sat down next to Paul without another word. His sister dropped a plate down before him, but she didn't look at him or speak to him.

"Thanks, Izzy," he said to try and get her attention. She grunted back at him and walked over to the refrigerator and Alec sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get anything out of her until she calmed down.

"Good morning Paul," he told the small boy sat next to him who was currently absorbed in a book. Paul looked up and gazed at him blankly.

"What are you reading?" Alec asked and Paul offered the book to him. "Ah, the Codex. Well, it makes sense I suppose because you are starting your training." He smiled and handed the book back to Paul, who took it silently and continued reading.

"Talking of training, where is Jace?" he asked, directing the question to the entire group.

"He didn't want breakfast – said something about going to meet up with Clary," Aline answered, taking the frying pan off the heat.

"He's probably gone with her to Takis for breakfast, then," Alec observed.

"Where's Magnus?" Isabelle asked suddenly, breaking her apparent vow of silence and bringing over a carton of orange juice to the table.

"He's over at the loft – he's got a load of appointments today because he didn't work yesterday."

"What does he actually _do_?" Helen asked.

"You don't wanna know…" Isabelle interrupted. Alec gave her an exasperated glare.

"Magnus is pretty private about all that. He does a few spells for people, mainly Downworlders, though he does get the occasional Mundane or Shadowhunter asking for his help. Mostly though, from what I can tell, he's a sort of Advisor. People go to him with problems and he tries to help them. He doesn't always use magic."

"Oh my God, he's an Agony Aunt!" Helen exclaimed. Isabelle snorted a laugh and Aline tittered into the bowl of eggs she was scrambling.

"I'm not sure what that is," Alec admitted with slight chagrin as he hoped they weren't making fun of the Warlock.

Suddenly, there was a mewling sound coming from Alec's feet. He looked down to see Chairman Meow sat there, looking up at him wistfully, demanding attention.

"Morning Chairman," Alec greeted the tabby brightly. Before he could reach down and scoop the small cat up for a scratch behind his ear the Chairman slinked away under the table and reappeared in Peter Hawkswood's arms a moment later.

"So this is your cat?" Peter asked him, no trace of hostility on his face any longer.

"He's more Magnus' than mine," Alec conceded with a smile as relief spread through him that Peter Hawkswood was cuddling a small cat rather than attacking anyone. Peter tickled the tabby behind his ears, which he knew from experience the Chairman loved, and then the cat snuggled against the boy, affectionately marking him with his scent. To Alec's surprise, Peter chuckled.

"He likes you," Alec told the boy.

"You think so?" he asked, petting the Chairman under his chin. Alec could hear the cat purring from the opposite end of the table.

"He's not a big people person. Usually he goes into hiding if new people come around. He must sense you are a cat person. According to Magnus, Chairman Meow is an excellent judge of character. I'm not saying I agree, but he can definitely sense which humans will make a fuss over him."

"Mum and Dad would never let me have a cat," he replied and suddenly Peter's expression dropped, his eyes filling with tears as he placed the Chairman carefully back down on the floor, as if holding him was too upsetting.

"Well you can play with the Chairman whenever he's around," Alec told Peter softly. Peter looked up at Alec and smiled at him sadly. Finally, he was able to see that Peter was just a boy who had had his world tipped upside down. He wasn't evil or had any hidden agenda; he was just scared and confused and grieving.

"As long as he promises he won't be violent towards the poor thing," Isabelle observed harshly. Peter bowed his head, the shame clear in his gesture and he blushed a deep crimson.

_He blushes worse than me..._

"Don't be ridiculous," Alec told her. Isabelle looked at him with consternation; he was sounding more and more like his mother every day and if he was being honest with himself, he found it alarming too.

Aline dished out the bacon and eggs and they all ate in silence, Peter barely touched his food but he was obviously making an effort now. Alec even noticed him passing a bit of bacon to the cat who was now sat at his feet and not taking his eyes off the elder Hawkswood boy. Paul wolfed down his food silently and then quickly and quietly returned to his book.

"The Chairman has never gone over to Izzy for a cuddle," he told Peter in a mock conspirational whisper, mostly to try and break the awkward slience. Peter smiled at that, which Alec took as a tiny victory.

"What are you guys whispering about," a familiar voice announced from the doorway and Alec turned around in his chair to greet his _parabatai_.

"Morning – we were just talking about how Izzy scares Chairman Meow. Hey Clary," he said as he spied the red-head hovering just behind Jace.

"Hey Alec," she told him warmly. There was a moment of silence before Alec realised everyone was waiting for him to say something. He turned and looked at his sister quizzically.

"Aren't you going to do introductions?" she asked him a little icily.

"Oh yeah, sure!" he stuttered. "Clary – this is Peter and Paul Hawkswood," he said, indicating the two boys.  
"I'm Clary, nice to meet you both," she told them brightly, nodding at each in turn.

"You're Clarissa Morgenstern," Peter stated blandly, though his eyes shone with a powerful emotion Alec couldn't quite identify. He could see Clary flinch a little out of the corner of his eye.

"It's Fray actually, or Fairchild as far as the Clave is concerned," she told him sternly.

"You killed him, didn't you?" Peter asked, clearly fascinated. The entire room went deathly silent and Clary's face went very dark, like a storm cloud had just passed over her head.

"Actually, that would be me," Jace interrupted cheerfully, a smug smile on his face. Jace hadn't spoken about it much, despite Alec trying to get him to open up. He and Izzy knew about as much as everyone else: Clary had marked Sebastian with a particular rune and Jace had burned him with heavenly fire. Jace hadn't wanted to talk about it and had so far always seemed a little saddened and despondent of the whole situation and very un-Jace like.

_Until now…_

"So, Paul," Jace announced loudly, causing the small boy to look up at him in alarm; the poor thing looked like a rabbit caught in headlights, clearly not expecting anyone, let alone Jace, to address him. "Let's go up to the training room and go over some of the weapons you'll be using, yes?" It wasn't really a question.

Paul only stared at Jace blankly, not making any effort to move and follow him to the Training room, his book flopped open at his lap. Jace, who was always so confident, suddenly looked lost and very puzzled.

"Ummm…"

Alec couldn't help but find it the tiniest bit amusing. "Go on Paul, you'll have a great time. There's no need to be scared," Alec encouraged, but Paul didn't even register he had spoken, his gaze still fixed avidly on Jace as if he was some miracle.

_Surprised he isn't enjoying every second of it…_

"Go on Paul," Helen repeated. "Jace is a brilliant Shadowhunter, you'll learn a lot from him."

"Aw thanks Helen!" Jace beamed. "Alec, she can stay. None of you seem too interested in boosting my ego so now she is my official favourite." Clary punched him in the arm, almost lazily and Alec found himself being thankful to Jace for lightening the mood so much. However, Paul was still staring and not moving. Maybe the kid was deaf or something?

"Paul," Peter stated loudly, causing his little brother to snap his head around sharply and look at him. Alec could see clearly now how frightened the younger boy looked. "Go on with Jace –it's ok," he told him seriously, his voice soft and comforting though his angular face still appeared harsh. Paul didn't need telling twice and he got up immediately, his book dropping with a thud to the tiled floor. He made no effort to pick it up but instead walked over to Jace and grabbed his hand. Everyone else looked on in an awed silence.

"Uh – ok… It's this way, come on," Jace said as he led Paul from the room with a great amount of uncertainty.

"You want some breakfast Clary?" Aline asked once they had left.

"I'm good thanks – I'll just grab an orange juice," she replied, sitting down in Paul's vacated seat at the table next to Alec and poured a glass of the sweet pulped fruit. "You're not wearing your ring," she observed nonchalantly, nodding towards Alec's hand. He felt his heart stop.

"Ummm… No, I'm not," he replied, finding it difficult to force the words out past the lump in his throat. Isabelle looked at him quizzically before rising to help Helen with the dishes. Clary eyed him suspiciously, reeling a little from his nervous reaction.

"I've – uh – got to make a phone call," Alec announced as he stood quickly and clumsily, knocking his chair backwards and only just managing to catch it before it tumbled to the floor. He began to walk hurriedly, practically running, from the kitchen when he remembered something he needed to do.

"Um, Peter – can I have a word with you after you finish your breakfast? In the library?" he asked, feeling awkward and really hot as his all too familiar blush spread furiously across his cheeks.

"Sure," Peter replied, looking confused.

Clary started to smile knowingly at him and he knew he had to escape quickly.

What was it with that girl? How come she seemed to guess everything that was going on with him? She had realised within a few hours of meeting Alec that he was gay and had feelings for Jace, and now she had spotted the absence of his Family Ring, which, of course, he had given to his boyfriend the previous night.

_Fiancé_

He mentally corrected himself, causing a tingle to pulse down his spine and make him shiver. He left the group in the kitchen, who all looked thoroughly bemused and jogged to the library. By the time he got there Alec had to sit down and catch his breath. Was he really getting that un-fit? More likely the prospect of almost being found out had exhausted him. And did it matter that anyone found out about what had happened? People announced engagements all the time and they would have to tell his family at some point.

But then Alec was confused about his and Magnus' discussion last night. It hadn't been a _real _proposal of marriage. Until yesterday, Alec hadn't even thought about getting married. He always had assumed it was a bit of a joke as far as he and Magnus were concerned; he hadn't thought it entirely possible that as two men they would be allowed to marry.

He loved Magnus and knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him, but that didn't mean they had to get married. What did marriage really mean, anyway? An embarrassing ceremony, an even more embarrassing party and the ability to call each other 'husband'. Giving someone your family ring to wear was a big deal in his world – it was as good as getting married wasn't it?

Alec took a deep breath and sighed heavily. How could he tell Magnus about this? He didn't want to hurt the man he loved, and he supposed he would like to get married to Magnus someday, so that they could show the world what they meant to each other and inspire other Shadowhunter and Downworlder unions. Plus, it would demonstrate to the Clave that it was ok for two men to get married and that would hopefully mean that more young Shadowhunters would be able to be true to themselves and not feel they had to hide. But shouldn't two people get married for themselves? Shouldn't it be a selfish act all about each other – a decision shouldn't be influenced by the rest of the world?

And he was only eighteen. That was pretty young to get married, even by Shadowhunter standards. True, Magnus was older than him – a _lot_ older than him – but the Warlock had only just lost his immortality and started to age, and physiologically he and the Warlock looked about the same age.

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by the looming figure of Peter Hawkswood, standing nervously at the entrance to the library.

"Hey, come in," Alec invited. Peter looked troubled and anxious, despite Alec's best efforts to be warm and welcoming. He walked towards the desk slowly, casting furtive glances around the room and inspecting his surroundings like he was planning an escape route.

"Take a seat," Alec told him eventually when the boy had stood in front of him for a few moments, clearly awaiting the invitation.

"Is this about my brother?" he asked darkly as he sat.

"No," Alec replied, a little taken aback that this was Peter's first thought. "I wanted to talk about yesterday in the garden…"

"I already said I was sorry," Peter interrupted.

Alec took a deep breath. This was a lot harder than his mother had made it look.

"Look – I'm not very good at all this," Alec told him honestly. "I'm not good with finding the right words to say and I have no idea what I am meant to say to you right now. I'm only here right now because Isabelle told me I needed to do this."

Peter stared at him blankly.

"I suppose I have to berate you for your behaviour or something…"

"You don't sound so sure about this," Peter observed a little puzzled. "You're meant to be the adult here."

"I know," Alec sighed, slumping down in his chair. "But I only turned nineteen a few months ago. I know that I'm an adult, but I don't often feel that I am. I've always tried to take care of Jace and Izzy the best I could because I'm the eldest, but I could never be a replacement for our parents. We lost our Mum and Dad in the Battle too, you know."

Peter nodded slowly in recognition.

"You're almost fifteen – I have no right to tell you what to do or how to act just because I'm a few years older than you."

Peter's head was now lowered and his eyes downcast and Alec suddenly wished he hadn't mentioned parents. If they were going to help the Hawkswoods, though, Alec was going to have to make sure that Peter was aware that his behaviour was unacceptable and if he pulled anything like that again Izzy, Magnus or Jace were likely to hurt him.

"But I do have the right to tell you when your behaviour is unacceptable because I am the Head of this Institute and because you live here." Peter's head snapped up sharply and the boy stared, his eyes wide and starting to fill with tears. Alec felt doubt and uncertainty wash over him – he was clearly doing this all wrong. "Peter, please tell me what happened yesterday. Help me understand?" he asked the boy softly.

Peter Hawkswood lowered his gaze and wiped his right sleeve over his misting eyes. In this light and clouded with tears they were the same colour as a summer sky and displayed all his innocence, all his grief, and all his youth.

"Paul hasn't said a word since our parents died," Peter suddenly announced. He looked up at Alec, his face sad. "I've tried everything to get him to talk to me. I – I – I guess I lost my temper with him yesterday. I didn't mean what I said and I didn't want to hurt him. He's just acting so strangely and I am so scared for him. He never used to be like this – he was always running off, going on adventures and getting lost. He always went on and on at me to show him some of the training I had learnt so he could get a head start. Now he just hides and he's frightened all the time. I just don't think this place is best for him. He should be back at home in Alicante."

Alec took a few moments to process the information. "You know that going back to Alicante isn't an option," he reasoned.

"Yes, I know." Peter told him sadly.

"I know this isn't your home, but maybe you both need the distance for a little while. I am not planning on keeping you prisoner here, so when the time comes that going back to Idris is an option for you then I will do everything I can to make it happen. I promise." He smiled at Peter, who dropped his head, as if it were a little too heavy for him.

"We watched them die. I tried to make sure Paul couldn't see but he was struggling and we had to keep quiet so I just let him go in the end. I just held his hand because it was all I could do. I should have helped them, but I was too scared. I'm a coward." Tears were now streaming down Peter's face and he looked utterly broken. Alec tried desperately to find words to respond, but it wasn't one of his strong points and he started to panic.

"My mother died in my arms," he blurted out – it was the only thing that his mind apparently wanted him to say at that point. "She died because she was protecting me. She sacrificed herself so that I would live. I tried to save her, but I couldn't."

Peter gazed at him as they shared their pain and their guilt, a strong connection forming between them.

"My father was turned. Isabelle killed him. I cannot imagine what she must feel or be going through. For me, my father died when he was forced to drink from that Infernal Cup. But for my sister, who stared into his eyes as she claimed his life… I don't know. I wanted to protect her from that, but that was just how it happened."

Alec looked intensely at Peter. "Your parents died because they were protecting you – they fought because they wanted to keep you safe. All that would have happened is that you would have died too and Paul would be all alone."

Then they sat there in silence for a while, each contemplating and each soothed by the presence of the other with whom they had shared such personal feelings of loss.

"Isabelle hates me," Peter eventually said, sounding very glum.

"Isabelle takes a while to warm to others, but she'll be ok."

"Do you think she will still train me?"

"Well, she doesn't really have a choice. She has been appointed by the Council to train you and Paul." Alec smirked conspirationally at him. "Besides, she sort of has to do as I say – she'll come round, I promise."

Peter smiled weakly at him, which was a considerable improvement.

"You need to stop worrying as much Peter. I know - I'm a worrier too. But you must start to grieve for yourself and let Paul do his grieving in his own way too. Eating properly would be a start."

"You think Paul will be ok?" he asked in a small voice.

"I don't know. But I do know it is way too early to tell. We need to give him time and just be there for him when he eventually wants to talk about it. Now, why don't we go up to the Training Room and see how he is getting on with Jace?"

Peter nodded enthusiastically before standing up.

They walked to the Training Room in a comfortable silence for most of the way, until Peter looked up at him questioningly.

"Are you and Magnus… Um?"

"Magnus is my boyfriend," Alec stated.

_Fiancé, he corrected mentally for the second time that day_.

"Oh, right," Peter said awkwardly.

"I'm sorry; I guess I just assume everyone knows after what happened in the Accords Hall," Alec shrugged apologetically.

"What?" Peter enquired, his cheeks turning pink when he realised his curiosity had gotten the better of him.

"I kissed Magnus in the Hall of Accords just before the battle against Valentine. In front of everyone – my parents, the Clave. Everyone," Alec could feel his own blush spreading over his cheeks as he said it. Even though he was long past any embarrassment over his and Magnus' relationship, recalling the event seemed to remind him of the way he felt at the time.

Peter was silent again for a few minutes, before stopping abruptly and turning to face Alec square on. "I really am sorry for what I said to Magnus," he announced.

"Magnus can take care of himself," Alec told Peter with a small encouraging smile. He understood now that Peter had just been frightened the day before for his brother; he had panicked and didn't really know what he was doing.

"Well I am sorry nevertheless. I would like to apologise to Magnus when he gets back too. The truth is, my parents thought Downworlders should be treated the same as everyone else. They used to say that Downworlders need our protection just as much as Mundanes and that we are all connected to each other because we have to share this world and we must all be responsible for it and protect it from evil. They believed in the Accords."

"They sound like they were really great people," Alec told him in earnest.

"What I called Magnus yesterday – I don't know where that came from. My parents would have been livid if they had heard me talk like that. I feel so ashamed." Peter bowed his head and stared at the floor.

"Hey, Magnus has been called a lot worse than that before; I am sure he would accept your apology. And I am sure your parents would understand. We all say things we don't mean because we are angry or scared sometimes – you were looking out for Paul, there's no need to be ashamed about that."

"You said you weren't very good at speaking to people… but you are. Thank you for talking to me." Peter smiled at him – a genuine, real smile that lit up his face and made him look young and carefree.

"Come on," Alec said as he walked off, indicating for Peter to follow him because he couldn't think of what else to say.

* * *

Although Paul still hadn't said a word, it was clear that he was enjoying his training. When they began watching him in the training room trying to hold various weapons under Jace's instruction, his face was a mask of concentration, but there was no sign of anguish or pain. Paul had beamed happily when Peter joined them. Alec had had to give Jace a 'look' to let him know to just leave behind any hostility towards Peter, but thankfully Jace just rolled his eyes and complied rather than making any fuss.

Jace had been demonstrating a high wire to Peter and Alec was teaching Paul how to hold a bow properly when his phone began to buzz in his pocket. The caller ID flashed up as Helen Blackthorn. Alec felt a slight panic rise in his throat: he hoped that all had gone well with the proposal.

"Hey Helen," he answered apprehensively, stepping away from Paul and leaving him to practice drawing back the string properly on the bow.

"She said yes!" Helen squealed down the phone.

"Congratulations!" Alec beamed back, trying to be quiet so the others wouldn't overhear him.

"So we want to take you guys out tonight to celebrate – you think Magnus would be able to work his magic and get us in somewhere swanky? No pun intended…"

"I'm sure he will if that's what you guys want. Are you ok about everyone knowing now?"

"Well, I think we would like to do the announcement ourselves, but you can let Magnus know, that's not a problem."

_Good – because I've already told him…_

"Not sure when he'll be back yet, but I will try to get hold of him. What time do you think you two will get back to the Institute? Or do you want us to come meet you somewhere?"

"No, we'll come back – should be there around four I think because we want to do some shopping."

"Right – well I'll see you then!" Alec told them, feeling excited himself now.

"See you soon! Oh, and Alec?" Helen said.

"Hm?"

"Thank you." Alec was about to ask why she was thanking him, but she cut him off. "See you later Alec!" And then she hung up, leaving Alec in a bit of a daze.

"What was that about?" Jace asked him, jumping gracefully to the floor from high up in the rafters.

"Nothing – it was just Helen."

"Sounded like you were gushing like a little girl over something. Anything interesting?"

Alec scowled at him. "Helen and Aline want to go out for dinner tonight, so thought that would be nice."

"Yeah sounds good," Jace finally conceded after staring at him for a few moments suspiciously.

"I need to call Magnus…" Alec mumbled, trying to get away as quickly as possible. Jace always knew when he was hiding something and he really didn't want to spoil anything for Helen and Aline.

"Hello beautiful," Magnus answered after only two rings. "Everything ok?"

"Everything is fine. Just calling to let you know that Aline said yes."

"That's wonderful!"

"They want us all to go out to dinner together tonight so they can announce it and then we can all celebrate. And they wondered if you could get us in anywhere nice?"

"_Nice_? Hmmm… Only nice? Not totally and utterly fabulous?"

"You're the expert," Alec chuckled. "It's up to you."

"I miss you," Magnus whispered.

"I miss you too – when do you think you'll be finished?"

Magnus gave a dramatic sigh. "No idea, _sayang_. I wish I could be there with you right now. I may have to text you with details of the restaurant and meet you there. What time do you want me to reserve the table for?"

"Ummm… Not too sure. Helen said her and Aline will be back around four."

"Right – I shall book a table for seven then. That should give me and the girls enough time to get ready. Do you want to say anything about the two of us yet?"

Alec felt his heart skip a beat and his stomach flip.

"I don't want to steal their thunder!" he announced to Magnus, perhaps a little over-enthusiastically.

"Are you ok sweetheart?"

"Yes! I'm fine!" Alec practically screamed down the phone, clearly indicating he wasn't.

"You know I hate it when you hide stuff from me," Magnus told him sternly, sounding more than a little angry. Alec suddenly felt awful. How could he tell Magnus what was wrong when he didn't even know himself?

"I'm not hiding anything," Alec mumbled.

"Look, I have to go now, but you can bet your ass we'll be discussing this later. And that is _not_ a cue for you to go off and think up a convincing lie."

"I wouldn't do that!" Alec sputtered.

"I love you. See you later."

"Love you too," Alec told him rather glumly before hearing the call end. He was certainly not a liar, though when he thought about it 'the truth' had been a recurring theme of their relationship. They had both hidden things from the other in the past and it had almost destroyed them. They had vowed to not keep any secrets from each other so Alec supposed, even though he thought Magnus would get hurt by him admitting he wasn't sure about the whole marriage thing anymore, he would have to come clean. Magnus was too important to him.

**A/N: Apologies for lack of Malec in this chapter - it was originally going to go on to the scene in the restaurant but ended up being way too long! So next chapter will have lots of lovely Malec moments, I promise!  
Please do let me know what you think though! I read and treasure every one of my reviews.  
And if you haven't already done so, follow me/ this story so you will receive notifications when I update!**


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